Intuit affirms; Altera tops targets late

NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- An upbeat outlook from Intuit and a post-earnings rally in Ariba's stock buoyed the software arena late Monday, while a better-than-forecast report couldn't keep Altera shares from sagging in extended action.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq-100 After Hours Indicator, which measures the evening activity of the index's leading stocks, fell fractionally.

In the regular session, the Nasdaq Composite surged 28 points to close at 1,462, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished the day up 165 points, or 2 percent, at 8,472. See Market Snapshot.

Ariba, Intuit set software tone

Intuit shares
INTU, -2.51%
clawed back above $36 after closing down almost 7 percent at $34.79. The personal-finance software company said it expects to meet pro forma earnings targets for its third quarter and post sales at the high end of analysts' expectations. Shares took a beating in the regular session, due to fears that revenue was hurt by weaker-than-expected sales of tax software. See full story.

Shares of Ariba
ARBA
added more than 5 percent after the business software maker said its second-quarter net loss narrowed from a year earlier while sales came in slightly higher.

Oracle
ORCL, -1.42%
and Microsoft
MSFT, -1.70%
were also relatively active, but both stocks held fairly steady on the Island ECN.

Altera reports

Altera's first-quarter revenue grew 8 percent sequentially, twice as much as the chipmaker had predicted midway through the quarter. Earnings topped Wall Street's consensus target by a penny a share, sending the stock
ALTR, -0.42%
3 percent lower on after-hours leading volume. See full story.

Macrovision beats, Overstock to cut jobs

Macrovision
MVSN
surpassed analyst estimates for the first quarter and said earnings jumped from a year earlier. The company also said it was comfortable with its prior forecasts for the full year. Shares moved up more than 6 percent.

Last week, shares rallied after the company inked a licensing deal with Microsoft
MSFT, -1.70%
The contract calls for Macrovision to provide "dual session" music CDs that contain two sets of files, one for traditional playing devices and one for PCs and other portable devices.

Separately, Overstock.com
OSTK, +3.24%
widened its first-quarter loss despite posting strong revenue growth and also said it would cut 10 percent of its workforce. Shares fell more than 9 percent.

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